For founders to keep the lights on in these highly competitive times, they will need all the competitive advantage they can get — and that will include diversifying their channels beyond corporate, to include that of its leaders.

‘FOUNDER’ AS A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Turn your ‘Founder Brand’ into a competitive advantage and never chase outbound opportunities, but instead attract:

• Inbound next-round investors
• Inbound C-level/key recruits
• Inbound interest from ideal customers

WHY NOW

The new media era has resulted in a huge socio-informational shift; personalization, increased engagement, and more readily accessible information, has driven the publics interest in company leaders. We’ve seen how the brands of founders like Richard Branson, Oprah Winfrey & Steve Jobs have become highly valuable marketing assets to their organizations. When aligned with the corporate brand and business objectives can become a potent intangible asset for growth.

WHY STARTUP FOUNDERS

As the barriers to entry for every market get lower, so will the surge in competition. Right now, over 800,000 businesses are created each day. And startups don’t just compete with other startups for resources, but also established companies that already have more resources in their control.

A founder brand is a great strategy for most businesses and industries and not just startups. But startups are in a very unique situation most of the time, and that’s why I believe they are best positioned to implement such a strategy.